Mindfulness is a major buzzword right now—and rightly so. In my experience, becoming more mindful is life-changing. It can help you react more calmly and thoughtfully in any situation, whether you’re stuck in traffic, dealing with a difficult boss, or making food choices. And mindfulness isn’t just a new age theory; its benefits are backed by plenty of research. Studies have found it may help reduce inflammation (a known trigger of premature aging and disease), lower stress hormone levels, boost happiness, shrink belly fat, improve sleep, and curb appetite.

Mindfulness can also be pretty powerful when it comes to your eating habits. With my clients, I've observed how mindful eating can totally transform a person's relationship to food. (That's why I devoted an entire chapter to it in my book Slim Down Now.) Mindfulness can help you eat less and enjoy your food more. Plus, feeling relaxed while you nosh helps improve digestion and reduce bloating. And while becoming mindful doesn't happen overnight, the process is actually pretty simple. Here are three steps you can take today.

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Practice slowing down

If you find yourself eating too fast, or making spontaneous food decisions often (like grabbing a handful of M&Ms from the office candy jar), start by slowing the pace of your day. One way to do so: Pop in your earbuds and listen to a five-minute guided mindfulness meditation. You’ll find many options on YouTube, and through apps like Headspace, Meditation Studio, and Calm.

At meal times, try putting your fork down in between bites. You can also try an app like Eat Slower which allows you to set an interval (anywhere between 20 seconds and 3 minutes) between bites; a bell lets you know when it's time to lift your fork again. Even if you don’t do this at every meal, regularly practicing slow eating will help you become accustomed to unhurried noshing.

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Take smaller bites and sips

When clients really struggle to quit a speed eating habit,  I often recommend that they cut their food into smaller pieces. I also advise choosing  “loose” foods. For example, it's helpful to eat popped popcorn kernels or nuts one at a time, and chew each well before grabbing another. Grapes, berries, and grape tomatoes can also work well for slowing the pace.

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Eat without distractions

As efficient as multitasking may be, it’s not a great idea for meal or snack time, since it’s extremely difficult (if not impossible) to really pay attention to more than one thing at a time. So step away from your computer, TV, phone, and even books during meal time. By removing distractions, you can really pay attention to the flavors, textures, and aromas of your food, and better tune into your hunger and fullness levels…

Have you heard of vitiligo? I hadn't either, before I was diagnosed with it at age 17.

I was on a beach trip when I first noticed the uneven white patches all over my body, including around my eyes; my friends joked that I looked like a raccoon. I figured it was just a weird sunburn, and for the rest of the summer, I lathered on sunscreen and tried to stay in the shade. But the white patches just spread even more, and my family took notice. Before I started college, my mom thought it would be a good idea to talk to a dermatologist.

I expected the derm to lecture me for getting a tan. Instead, I learned I have an incurable condition. “It’s called vitiligo,” the doctor told me in a cold, matter-of-fact way. With vitiligo, cells that make color in the skin (called melanocytes) are destroyed, causing white patches to appear randomly all over the body, according to the National Institutes of Health. Michael Jackson had it, and fashion model Winnie Harlow has made headlines for landing high-profile campaigns despite her spots.

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Experts aren't sure what triggers the condition (which affects about 1% of the population), but some believe it may be an autoimmune disease. With autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks a healthy part of your body—in this case, the melanocytes. Others theorize vitiligo may be caused by genetics, while some say emotional stress or a sunburn can trigger it. 

In my case, I wouldn't be surprised if emotional strain were the trigger, since at that time I was more stressed than I'd ever been in my life. I was in the midst of my high school graduation, my final days with a dance studio I had considered a second home for nearly 10 years, and a heart-wrenching breakup from my first serious boyfriend. Everything in my life was changing, and now my body was, too. 

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I was stunned by my diagnosis. Whenever I'd had a medical issue before, I could just take a pill or see another doctor to make it better. Topical creams, oral medications, UVA light treatments, and surgery may ease vitiligo symptoms, but there's no cure. It can come back at any time, for any reason. I felt totally powerless. 

I started college feeling even more stressed. To even out my skin tone, I globbed concealer on my face and slathered tanning lotions all over my body. Some of the white patches would stay put, some would get brighter, and new ones would pop up, but none of them ever went away. Doctors gave me a topical cream to put on the patches, but they said it probably wouldn’t do anything anyway. My self-confidence plummeted. I felt ugly. 

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My plummeting self-esteem wasn't an unusual way to react to a vitiligo diagnosis…